Scott Petersen challenges Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen from right

A Lancaster County early voting drop box sits outside of the Lancaster County Election Commission in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has a Republican challenger for his job as the state’s top election official. 

Scott Petersen, an Omaha businessman, announced a GOP primary bid for secretary of state in recent weeks. Petersen has ties to the Nebraska Republican Party, serving on the state party’s executive committee. 

Evnen has spent much of the past year balancing efforts to defend the state’s elections that his office administers while responding to the concerns of some Republicans and President Donald Trump’s administration over election integrity since Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden. 

The push from some populist parts of the GOP for additional election security measures is a national framing of the electoral process that some election experts have warned could undermine public trust.

Petersen told the Examiner that he’s running because he’s not happy with “what’s coming out of the secretary of state.” 

“People don’t trust election systems … and whether right or wrong, it’s a problem,” Petersen said. “It needs to be addressed.”

The Omaha businessman said he would aim to be more “transparent” about elections, which he described as the top job for a secretary of state. Evnen, like other secretaries of state, regularly conducts audits after elections to ensure that the results are accurate. Petersen questioned the extent of those efforts, the results of which are made available publicly.

He said Evnen is “a good man” and a “good Republican,” but it’s time for “new energy,” as Evnen has been in office for two four-year terms. 

But Evnen is a former state Board of Education member known for his conservative lean. Over the past year, Evnen handed over data the Trump administration requested to the U.S.Department of Justice that his Republican predecessor didn’t, including parts that critics of the move have argued are potentially sensitive. 

He has started echoing some of Trump’s concerns over elections. He supported Nebraskans passing a state constitutional amendment in 2022 requiring voter ID. And Evnen has said he would like to see voter ID implemented nationally, and he said he would like to see more efforts to ensure noncitizens aren’t voting. But he said earlier this year that, “we don’t need to nationalize elections.” Trump has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would, in effect, “nationalize” elections that are run at the state level. 

Petersen said Nebraska has a “decent” election system, but he said there are issues in other states. He pointed to the FBI’s seizure of 2020 ballots and other election documents from Georgia’s Fulton County — a raid that relied on previously investigated claims about the 2020 election that no courts found credible.

“By the way,  if another state steals elections … our vote doesn’t count as much, right?” Petersen said. 

Petersen said he would listen more to people with concerns about elections, which he said Evnen hasn’t done a good job of. He added he would promote Nebraska around the world better. 

The secretary of state, in addition to overseeing elections, also handles business registrations and international relations. Evnen has made trips abroad on behalf of Nebraska, and has at times faced criticisms for some of those trips. Petersen, on his campaign website, said he plans to “modernize state services.”

Few people have won more close elections in Nebraska recently than Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. Bacon went out of his way to express his support for Evnen to the Examiner, saying he has done a “good job trying to meet with those who said the election was stolen in 2020.”

“He convinced many of them that they were wrong,” Bacon said.

Bacon categorized Petersen’s election integrity concerns as “going down a bad rabbit hole” and said Petersen has ties with people Bacon calls “crazies.”

“I don’t like the conspiracy stuff … I don’t like how they’re undermining the trust we have in elections. I think Nebraska elections are done very well,” Bacon said. 

Petersen previously worked for Bacon and, in 2022, for Dan Frei, Bacon’s primary challenger. Petersen said he hasn’t spoken to Bacon in a few years but appreciates his interest in the race.

“This race is about secure elections, transparent leadership and state government that works for the people,” Petersen said. “If Rep. Bacon considers these things to be a ‘bad rabbit hole,’ then perhaps his retirement is right on time.”

Cole Lumsden, Evnen’s campaign manager, said Evnen has “been a key partner with President Trump and his administration on election integrity.” 

Trump hasn’t weighed in, unlike in the governor’s race. 

“He’s worked to expand new economic opportunities for our farmers and ranchers,” Limsden said. “Secretary Evnen appreciates the trust and support of Nebraskans as we approach May 12th.” 

The state’s top election official fended off two GOP challengers in 2022 who had claimed that widespread voter fraud cost Donald Trump the 2020 election. They collected more votes combined in that primary, 125,778, than Evnen, 98,263. 

Evnen touted Nebraska’s elections as the nation’s most “secure or accurate” last year during his reelection campaign kick-off event.

At the same event, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly and other speakers praised Evnen for how he has represented Nebraska when speaking to other countries about trade opportunities and for his handling of elections. 

Evnen has the endorsement of all five members of Nebraska’s federal delegation, Attorney General Mike Hilgers, Omaha City Councilman Brinker Harding, the likely 2nd district GOP nominee, and other Republican officeholders. 

But Petersen said he isn’t fazed, because Evnen is the “one that has to earn the trust.” Petersen said he is confident that he has a team behind him that can win the primary. He and many of the same groups also expressed confidence about Frei’s chances against Bacon in the 2024 GOP primary. 

The Nebraska GOP changed its endorsement policy last year to prohibit the state party, party officers and staff from endorsing one Republican over another in contested elections. Nebraska Republican Party Chair Mary Jane Truemper emphasized that the party is staying neutral in contested primary races.  

Two Democrats, Sarah Slattery and Lee Cimfel, have filed for the position as well. 

Nebraska’s primary election is May 12.

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